Thank you RedOak for sharing your story. You had a bad start in life, but you have seen the light, and you have a whole beautiful life before you, so please never, and I repeat, never walk again into that dark tunnel of Islam. I hope that one day you will marry a non Muslim man who won't try push you back into Islam.

Congrats for you win.You got many advices already, nothing to add more.Just I want to say no matter what happens, love your self. Its the best and the least thing one can do. Fate smiles on them who smiles on one-self.Welcome to new world. You will get many friends and many like you.

NEVER ARGUE WITH A STUPID, COZ 1ST HE WILL PULL YOU DOWN TO HIS LEVEL THEN WILL BEAT YOU WITH HIS EXPERIENCE

Hey Intelligent Lad, I'm sorry for the late reply, Gosh I can't thank you enough for all of those wonderful quotes, thank you <3Thanks sooo much for taking your time to write those out, I appreciate it sooooooo much! thank you thank you thank you !!

Hey Ariel I don't think I will be able to, and although intelligent lad has supplied some beautiful quotes, i can't help shaking off the fear of hell. damn it Thanks again for your post, and I wish the same for you.

And thanks Amanalice for your kind words, and for the ones filled with such wisdom, indeed you must love yourself in order to be fulfilled, I felt in islam that I knew only how to hate myself?

Instilling fear into the mind of a young child is one of Islam`s master strokes. The child is now controlled and in the clutches of Islam, not daring to reached beyond what Islam dictates otherwise it will be burning in hell. This entrenched fear overrides logical thought. The following this matter and is well worth a read -

Over the last year, I've had the privilege of working on a book with Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., who heads the ChildTrauma Academy and is one of the leading experts on how traumatic stress affects children and the development of their brains.

Reading the various "Fearless" posts-- and thinking about terror quite personally yesterday as a small plane hit a building just blocks from my home office-- I was struck by what Dr. Perry taught me about fear during our work.Fear literally makes us stupid. It is mediated by the most ancient parts of the brain. These regions take control when we are frightened and basically turn off the areas responsible for rational thought. This is not just a metaphor: quite literally, these primitive regions control our actions and prevent abstract thoughts from occurring to us when we are terrified. The pattern can be seen on brain scans.

For most of our evolutionary history, of course, this ability to shut down more recently evolved areas like the cortex and simply act was highly adaptive. When a predator is chasing you, abstract ideas and long-term considerations are not useful: to survive, you need lightening-quick reactions, not deliberative decision-making processes. As a result, however, the more frightened you are, the more reflexive your responses will be.

What's more, because the brain changes in response to how you use it, the more time you spend in a terrified state, the more developed these lower regions become. Worse, since you are not exercising the higher regions and the connections that modulate the fear circuits, these are weakened comparatively.

This is why children raised in abusive or threatening environments so often have problems with impulse control: their fear regions are being strengthened, promoting quick reactions and thoughtless responses while the areas devoted to self-control and consideration of the consequences of one's actions are under-developed. Tragedies often result as they misinterpret neutral events as threatening and unthinkingly respond with aggression.

These properties of our brains also leave us vulnerable to terrorists and politicians who try to take advantage of our impaired reasoning when threatened-- and the longer we live in a state of fear, the worse it gets. Moreover, because our brains are designed to mirror the responses of those around us, the cycle can become self-reinforcing.

Arianna's call for an epidemic of fearlessness is exactly the right response. If we exercise our control over our fear, if we focus on responding thoughtfully, our brains will sharpen their skills in those areas. The more people participate, the more others will join in, due to mirroring effects. Virtuous cycles are as powerful as vicious ones. But we have to start them.

There are more articles like this which also explain how fear controls people. As you will note from the article above the brain changes in accord with the fear instilled into it and where the amygdala becomes very dominant at the expence of rational thought.

I have claimed more than once that muslims are a different strain of humanity through indoctrination but which is no fault of the individual muslim who has been indoctrinated. There is another article where it is shown that the brain develops a protective position against conflicting ideas including religious matters. It protects the initial indoctrination.

You will be more than aware how, despite all facts and reason, that so many muslims are either unwilling or unable to reject Islam.

Thank you for your testimony Redoak, it was interesting and enlightening to read. I hope you see those stories of hell for what they are, the mad rantings of a 6th century Arab adulterer. If you ever read about Muhammed's first encounter with "allah', the story in the cave, you know he had some issues to say the least. Don't allow someone who has been dead for over 1400 years and has never brought anything good to anybody, have any influence on you.

~A God of mercyWould never... inform His people war is simply a means of testing ones faithSurah's:3:140, 3:142,3:166, 3:167, 9:16, 47:4

Sum!, sorry for the late reply, thank you soo much for your post. That was such an interesting and enlightening read, and I have to agree with everything it says, I think I've come to see that religion instilled on children is child abuse. Thanks so much <3

Hi Ozes, I have actually gotten half way through Ali Sina's book and have found it to have really opened my mind in this respect. As for my fear for hell, I am grateful that as my eyes are opened more and more to the ridiculousness of religion it is becoming more and more of a joke and less of something to be fearful of. Thank You

Hi Ringmaster, again sorry for the late reply I've been really busy, but thank you for your reply! Again and again I find that the Quran looks to me as something compiled by man to further their own desires, i agree with you, thanks for your contribution xx

RedOak wrote:(snip) I think I've come to see that religion instilled on children is child abuse. (snip)

Hi RedOak - yes, it is. It's great to have you here. I only hope that many millions of Muslims will follow in your footsteps and leave the horrible cult of Islam.

Maybe you have relatives or friends who may have doubts about Islam? It would be great if you were able to get them to come along here too! The more, the merrier.....

My *real* dream is to find an apostate who has access to a madrassa (and who would be interested in quietly letting the young people there know of this site). I am *desperately keen* to do all I can to undermine madrassas and the evil stuff that they do - pumping out youths filled with hate and ready to join the Taliban - that kind of thing. Bye for now - - enceladus

I hope so too, but soo many of them are too scared to even hope to think differently, it's truly heart breaking

My relatives... hm, my sister has a few doubts but I cannot see her ever leaving Islam, I do talk to her about my doubts and she listens and actually agrees with most of what I say but then when I start saying blasphemous things she gets really uncomfortable... maybe in time?

I don't usually attend a madrassa, though we do have local ones that I use to go to and my parents still do. When I use to go, I never would hear them inciting violence, however I would agree that they incite hatred because they draw a very distinct line between US and THEM, the non believers are always called KAFFIR, and are insulted about their way of life, how much God doesn't like them and disapproves of them etc.

Why don't you go to a muslim forum site and post something inviting them here to debate or something?

RedOak wrote:I hope so too, but soo many of them are too scared to even hope to think differently, it's truly heart breaking

Yes, it is. One and a half billion or so minds, smothered with the nonsense of Islam. All of that potential just wasted praying five times a day towards a big black cube.

RedOak wrote:My relatives... hm, my sister has a few doubts but I cannot see her ever leaving Islam, I do talk to her about my doubts and she listens and actually agrees with most of what I say but then when I start saying blasphemous things she gets really uncomfortable... maybe in time?

Ok. Yes, it's possible that in time, she may have doubts that she eventually realises that Islam cannot answer, so she may come around.

RedOak wrote:I don't usually attend a madrassa, though we do have local ones that I use to go to and my parents still do. When I use to go, I never would hear them inciting violence, however I would agree that they incite hatred because they draw a very distinct line between US and THEM, the non believers are always called KAFFIR, and are insulted about their way of life, how much God doesn't like them and disapproves of them etc.

Yes.... that sounds very much as I imagined a madrassa would be like. Probably really, really boring too..... I remember reading a testimony by a young woman who'd left Islam. She was very clever - she found out that the woman teacher at her madrassa could not read! She found this out by turning the woman's Koran upside--down when she wasn't looking. The woman didn't even notice - she picked it up as it was and continued to pretend to "read".....

RedOak wrote:Why don't you go to a muslim forum site and post something inviting them here to debate or something?- RedOak

That's a good idea! Nothing like stirring things up a bit in their neck of the woods...... - enceladus

Redoak...me and I am sure I can vouch for most on this site...I am proud of you..I am a Christian woman and could never feel hatred towards another person because they are not Christian..Jesus taught love and peace...Muhammad taught violence and hatred...islam puts fear inside people...fear of life on earth...be yourself be happy and say your prayers to God...seek him he will listen...you are gods child...I wish you a happy peaceful life...God bless you